Month: May 2015

(Made of cork, relating to fire)

Willow Bracket, Fire Sponge

Igniarius was the name given to this cracked and charred looking perennial conk. It is a fitting name. This mushroom looks as though it can withstand the harshest of elements – flames, lightning, rain and even drought. A tough looking mushroom, but a loving one just the same. A spore travels through the air and lands on a tree. A hardwood tree, like a willow or a Birch, whose wood is the most perfect place for mycelium to spread its network and feast. It lands on the trees that have stood for as long as they were meant to stand, for once inhabited by this new mycelium, their fate is sealed and they will not stand much longer. Although the tree’s life is to come to an end, the mycelium fruits, and in this mushroom a new miniature ecosystem emerges. A microscopic city forms in the pores on the underside and the cracked crust is the home of small centipedes, beetles and spiders. Even in this rough, weathered looking fruiting body, there is an abundance of life. The tree will die, but the life inside of the mushroom will continue and eventually the tree will break down and return to the soil. The strength that this mushroom emanates is a suggestion of resilience to the elements, and so by taking this mushroom as medicine, the person may become more resilient too.

Distribution

Perennial, releases spores throughout summer and fall. Found on hardwoods. Often found on Willow, Salix sp., but also found on Birch, Betula sp. and Alder, Alnus sp.

Therapeutic Actions

Medicinal Uses

Prevented stroke in mice1

Hispolon is an active phenolic compound found in Ignarius and when isolated, had significant anti-tumor activity. A study2 was done to look at its effect on lung cancer. Hispolon was found to induce cell apoptosis and GO/G1 cell cycle arrest.

Hispolon has also been found to exert anticancer effects on Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).4

The water extract is effective against influenza virus A and B, including H1N1, H2N3, and the Avian flu. The extract interferes with events in the virus replication cycle including viral attachment to the target cell.3

Ethanol extracts inhibited the proliferation of human hepatocarcinoma cell lines as well as rat heart vascular endothelial cells. When the extract was given in combination with Chemotherapy there was a synergistic effect in the inhibition of the proliferation of hepatocarcinoma.6 This study as well as others 5 suggest hepatoprotective qualities in the ethanol extract.

The biologically active compounds that modulate the immune system have been found to have therapeutic value for slowing multiple sclerosis progression in mice.7 After three weeks of being injected with the extract every other day, demyelination and immune cell infiltrations in the spinal cord were examined and there was a significant decrease in the daily incidence rate and clinical score of autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Used as an emmenagogue, invigorates blood circulation9

Fruiting body inhibits neuraminidase from H3N2, H1N1, and H5N1 influenza viruses¹¹ (neuraminidase in an important glycoprotein in influenza viruses that cleaves sialic acid from the infected cell surface and releases virus progeny allowing it to then infect other cells – and so neuraminidase inhibitors are well sought after in medicine)

Ethnobotanical Use:

Native Americans made elaborate boxes to hold the ashes of the fungus. These boxes have been collected from many sites along the Alaskan coast. The boxes were made from exceptional materials of bone, ivory and wood. The fungus was burnt to an ash, which was mixed with tobacco and chewed. It was reported that this gave it a powerful kick. It is known now that the alkaline quality of the ash quickened the effects of the nicotine entering the bloodstream. This species is used rather than other polypores because the Native Americans recognized this as having unique properties and gave a kick that other species did not.8 The Yup’ik of Western Alaska called the fungus arak, and the mixture of tobacco and the ash iqmik – “thing to put in the mouth” It has been reported that 52% of first nations people used this fungus.

Arctic tribes boiled the fruiting body and drank the decoction to soothe the stomach.9

Extraction:

One Study10 looked at the best way to extract polysaccharides from the mycelium, and found the optimal conditions for the highest polysaccharide yield were from an aqueous solution of 70 degrees Celsius, for 1.5 hours and the ratio of mycelia to water being 1:6.2.

When I have made extracts with this mushroom I have found it is easiest to use the fresh mushroom, it becomes very woody and hard to process when it is in it’s whole dry form. Look at extraction process for F. pinicola for instructions.

Blanchette, Robert A. “Fungus ashes and tobacco: the use of Phellinus ignarius by the indigenous people of North America” Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul. Feb 2001: 15 (1)

Rogers, Robert Dale. The Fungal Pharmacy: The Complete Guide to Medicinal Mushrooms and Lichens of North America. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic, 2011. Print.